Owner Larry Dolan. No doubt. The way he crowed about how much money he will make with his (awful) cable network (you know, the one where the video constantly freezes) and was rubbing his money in the faces of the fans. He apparently doesn't grasp how sports works. You put out a great product and the money comes later, not the other way around.

I guess it has to start at the top with the lack of money Dolan will spend on the team, that trickles down and makes it harder on the GM. Mark Shapiro is not without blame, either, though the misread on Brandon Phillips will hurt our team for a while. A couple years ago, he was our shortstop of the future, and Jhonny Peralta was penciled in at third. If we stuck with the plan, we wouldn't have had to trade Coco Crisp this year for Andy Marte. That trade was made for the future, but hurt us this year when we were supposed to contend. Losing the pitchers we did also hurt. With that said, there is a lot of talent on this team that is being terribly coached. This lands on the manager. How do you expect the players to play fundamental baseball when the manager doesn't know what it is? Eric Wedge is not a good manager. He is the ultimate reason we are under .500. A bunt or hit-and- run would be nice once in a while. Wedge has to go, and he has to go soon.

While it is extremely tempting to write "This is all Mr. Dolan's fault" in large letters, I tend to blame the mischievous sprite who shook fairy dust over last year's team and made some people, especially Mr. D., believe that the same fluky outcome could be conjured up every year on a relatively low payroll with retread pitchers and journeyman players. But as long as Grady Sizemore gets out there every day and plays like his hair's on fire, there's always a chance the other players will ignite. Don't give up hope!

Unquestionably the major blame lies with the lack of financial ability and willingness on the part of the Dolans to spend a reasonable amount on payroll. After missing the playoffs by one game, a good owner would have spent the money to improve the team, not let Kevin Millwood, Scott Elarton and Bob Howry get away only to be replaced by mediocre players at best, such as Jason Johnson and Guillermo Mota. Now the organization is beginning its campaign to discredit Ronnie Belliard, Aaron Boone and even Bob Wickman so that they can be replaced next year with low cost minor- league prospects. Looks like we will be "rebuilding" again next year. Such is the Indians hopeless fate of being owned by the Dolans! Can anyone interest Cavs owner Dan Gilbert?

This has to fall on you, Mr. Dolan. Every off- season move is fiscally motivated and your purse strings are so tight, Shapiro's left with few viable options. Instead of signing proven free agents, he's forced to scour the waiver wires and hang out in hospital waiting rooms. It's an expensive hobby, you knew this going in. The rules didn't change the day your check cleared. We no longer play in a division of patsies, and the novelty of the shiny new ballpark has faded, so if you want to fill the 500 level, it's time to ante up. Like it or not, we live in a football town, and prosperity through mediocrity is a luxury only the Browns can afford.

Unassisted

07-03-2006, 07:59 PM

Kind of reminds me of what it was like to be a Reds fan way back in 2004-5:

Ham-Handed GM + Tone-Deaf owner = Dismal Mess.

At least Uncle Carl wasn't openly greedy.

Also, "Eric Wedge is not a good manager?" I admit to the fallacy of small sample size, but it seemed to me like he out-managed Narron a couple of times over the weekend.

Yachtzee

07-03-2006, 09:50 PM

Yep, the answer is always spend more money. :rolleyes: I think that many Indians fans tend to be ignorant of their own assets. The Indians have a top farm system for developing talent and a Front Office that knows what its strengths and limitations are and acts accordingly. Cleveland is just not a market that can afford to spend up like the Yankees and Red Sox can. Their best bet is to get talent in the farm system, identify who they want to keep for the team and who they can use in trade to get the role players they need to contend. They may not be contenders every year, but with Shapiro and Antonetti, I doubt they'll miss the playoffs as long as they did between the '50s and the '90s. If the ownership and FO acted in a manner the Indians fans and media always seem to call for, I have no doubt another Rocky Colavito type trade happen in no time.

GAC

07-04-2006, 07:24 AM

More continues in today's paper....

Dolan's wallet pinching fan

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Double standard

Following a recent blown save by Bob Wickman against Milwaukee, Indians manager Eric Wedge was very defensive of the reliever after the game. "Milwaukee did a good job" he explained. In the next breath, when asked about an error made by Ben Broussard earlier in the game on first base, Wedge told the reporter, "Ask him [Broussard] - it's a play he should have made." Now I read in the PD (June 23) that "Eric is a part of the solution," according to General Manager Mark Shapiro when describing efforts to turn around the Indians' misfortunes. When a manager has an obvious double standard in the treatment of his players it should be more accurately described as a major source of the problem with the team. Contrary to Shapiro's statement, Wedge might well be a big reason why the team is doing so poorly. Shapiro is beginning to show signs of a defensive, circling-of-the-wagons mentality when it comes to Wedge. Besides not buying tickets to home games, maybe it's time the Cleveland fans, who set an all-time consecutive home game sellout streak, begin to boycott all the advertisers who buy air time on both TV and radio broadcasts. The baseball fans of Cleveland certainly deserve much better than what both ownership and management are giving us these days! Glen A. Weinberger

I've just about had enough of the Dolan Years here in Cleveland. I'm tired of the penny-pinching.